


could be

by ndnickerson



Category: Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Blow Jobs, Cunnilingus, Detectives, F/M, Falling In Love, First Time, Lust at First Sight, Meeting as Adults, Oral Sex, Spies & Secret Agents, Undercover, Workplace Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:26:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23903815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ndnickerson/pseuds/ndnickerson
Summary: While on a case, Ned and Nancy first meet and are instantly attracted to each other.
Relationships: Nancy Drew/Ned Nickerson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	could be

"Nickerson."

Ned was just walking away from the coffee maker, a paper cup in his hand, when he heard the insistent whisper. He managed to avoid crashing into an executive assistant who was striding down the corridor staring into her cell phone screen, using a deft swing of his hips, as he headed toward the man who had summoned him. His eyebrows rose as Parsons closed the door behind Ned and returned to his desk. Parsons's chair uttered a muted creak of protest as the man settled his weight, then leaned forward. His mouth was tight, his hands clenched into fists.

Ned catalogued that without changing his expression by a flicker, lowering himself into the guest chair and consciously, painfully ignoring his coffee in a gesture of solidarity.

"That new girl. Tiffany, Teresa, whatever. What do you know about her?"

Ned's brow furrowed, then cleared. "Marcy?"

"Yeah, her."

That she had legs that didn't quit and a killer smile. Ned dismissed that with a slight head shake. "Not much. Why?"

"I think she's here to spy on me." Parsons leaned forward even more, so his chest was pressed against the desk, and lowered his voice. "When I came in this morning, my computer was off."

Which it should have been anyway. Ned had read the IT emails, too. "Wow. Who do you think hired her to spy on you?"

"How should I know?" Parsons exploded, his eyes wide and crazy as he opened his arms in an exaggerated gesture. "Of course I have enemies. We all do! But I need you to find out about her. Maybe get 'er in the sack and see if she'll tell you what she's looking for."

Ned's mouth dropped open, but Parsons didn't apologize or say he had been joking. Ned could see a faint sheen of perspiration on the man's temples and upper lip. The few long strands combed over his bald spot were quivering faintly, too.

"I mean, unless you think... Maybe she's dumb enough to fall for me?"

Ned said a fervent prayer of thanks that his mouth wasn't full of coffee, because he would have forcefully sprayed it all over the man before losing himself in a guffaw of helpless laughter. As it was, his eyes watered with the effort of holding back. "Let me strike up a conversation with her. I'll get back to you."

Parsons nodded. A long teased strand of his hair drooped to tickle his cheek. "Do that. I owe you."

\--

"I'm here to pass you a note. Like in school."

Nancy turned from the file cabinet she was unsuccessfully searching, to see the tall, dark, drop-dead gorgeous guy she had been noticing ever since she had started here. Ned. She had heard someone call him Ned yesterday.

"Oooh." Nancy grinned and pushed the drawer closed. "'Do you want to go steady? Check yes or no?'"

Ned blinked, but recovered quickly. "Let's put a pin in that. Parsons thinks you're spying on him."

Nancy very nearly jumped as a spurt of adrenaline hit her system, but she covered with a snort of laughter. "I'm sorry, _who_?"

"Parsons. Assistant Finance VP."

Nancy reached up to tap her finger against her chin. "Well, now I'm kinda fascinated," she said, and glanced down at her outfit. Her pleated brown skirt and ivory silk blouse said she was a woman who followed the rules, but she had also had a few locks of her hair colored royal blue and she wore a pair of textured bronze mary janes featuring a high chunky heel that Bess had made Nancy swear she would give her once the case was over. Nancy didn't mind; they were _definitely_ not made for standing around anywhere comfortably. "What about this outfit screams _spy_? Shouldn't I be in all black or something?"

"Skulking around in the shadows," Ned agreed. "Maybe with a sweet eye mask thing."

_Domino_ , Nancy didn't pipe up. The word was on the tip of her tongue, though. "Until I've managed to pull together that ensemble... what kind of note were you passing me?"

"Oh, one that involves taking you to dinner and grilling you about the purity of your intentions toward Parsons."

And then Ned winked at her.

Nancy blamed her racing heartbeat on the fear of discovery, not Ned's obvious flirting.

"What if I grill you about the purity of _your_ intentions?" she replied, raising an eyebrow.

"If that'll get you there, consider it done."

Nancy shook her head, still pretending to consider. If he had his guard down, he might let a little information slip... and he was _really, really_ hot. Like Bess declaring she would have his babies thirty minutes into their first date hot. "I don't know..."

"Sure you do. You, me, six-thirty, La Cocina."

"Is he letting you expense it?"

Ned grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Nancy returned his grin. Actually, she very definitely _would_ like to know.

\--

Ned knew he needed to stay professional. In fact, a large part of his brain was just chanting the words _Stay professional_ over and over to remind him. And he had to be reminded, because that thought was being short-circuited every time his gaze met Nancy's.

She wore a simple black sheath dress that was _just_ short enough to show off those gorgeous legs to perfection, but had otherwise changed nothing. He had a few questions about why she might have a black sheath dress in the trunk of her car for last-minute dates, but pointing that out would show he was being too observant, so he let it pass.

Tonight was _incredibly_ complicated, though. He needed to find out if she knew or suspected anything, without tipping her off that he was interested. And the part of his brain that she kept short-circuiting replied that they should just order a pitcher of margaritas and let the conversation just organically get there, maybe while wrapped around each other in bed.

Ned took a sip of water to cover as he tried hard to dismiss that image. The more interaction he had with her, the more attracted to her he felt. It wasn't that he'd never been attracted to someone before, it was that it just had never developed so rapidly.

Maybe the stress of the job was getting to him.

"We should order a pitcher of margaritas," Nancy suggested, her eyes sparkling wickedly.

"Fuck yes," he replied, raising his hand to summon any waiter in the vicinity. "I mean, if you're sure. I just don't want to make things weird at work."

"We aren't at work, and we're in different departments." She shrugged. "Besides, if I get a transfer into your department, maybe we can do it on Parsons's desk."

Ned's mouth dropped open, and Nancy dissolved into giggles. "God, that was priceless," she gasped out.

"You really _are_ a spy," he said, all mock-seriousness. "Only a spy would suggest that. And then turning off his computer after," he said, watching her closely and knowing he'd see nothing.

"Shit, we'd turn off his computer _before._ Don't want anyone hacking into the webcam for a show."

A waitress began to approach Ned, and he grinned. "You are a hundred percent right," he returned. "And they would definitely get one, too."

"That a promise, Nickerson?"

"I've worked out on a fair number of desk calendars in my career."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Now I'm gonna have to request you double-bag it."

"Just kidding. But if I did, it definitely wouldn't be Parsons's desk I'd choose."

The pitcher of margaritas arrived in record time, and Nancy's hand deliberately brushed his as she scooped up another pair of chips from their plate of nachos. Ned still didn't know if the outrageous flirting was actually going to lead anywhere, but he was able to sense something behind her words that he hadn't before. She diverted their conversation into office politics for a while, and he followed, keeping his ears open as he nursed that first margarita.

"So," she said, surfacing after the arrival of their main courses, massive platters of colorful dishes that were just as tasty as the online reviews promised. "Seriously. If Parsons thinks I'm supposedly spying on him, doesn't that make you wonder why? What does he have to hide?"

Ned shrugged. His appetite had vanished as his adrenaline had risen, and he had to hide his eagerness at her topic, somehow. "He's finance VP," he replied simply.

"So he's been with the company a while."

"Not even that. He's brother-in-law of... some bigwig," Ned settled on. Revealing the entire family tree, which he had memorized, wouldn't help his "I'm just a random coworker" cover. "I think this is his third year."

"And have profits been going down? Is he embezzling or something?" Off his look, Nancy gave a sheepish smile. "I watch too many crime shows," she admitted.

"Uh-huh," he replied sarcastically. " _Spy._ "

He said it jokingly, but Nancy's expression smoothed out, and she tilted her head slightly. "How long have you been with the company, Ned?" she asked, in a quietly singsong voice.

The pretense had mostly dropped, on her side anyway. Letting some nervousness bleed through wasn't going to hurt, so he allowed it. "Three weeks."

"Well, office gossip holds that Madison in accounting is going to be held responsible for the missing funds unless someone figures out who the real culprit is." Nancy crunched another chip, her gaze pinned to his face.

"'Culprit.' You do watch a lot of crime shows."

"I do. Did Parsons hire you to keep an eye out for him?"

Ned shook his head. "He did, all joking aside, suggest that I try to get you in the sack to see if you'd just casually reveal who you're working for. The man has strange ideas about pillow talk."

"While I am _very_ interested in who he's working for..." Nancy did have a killer smile, but the intensity of her gaze was intimidating. "I'm also very interested in who _you're_ working for."

Ned shrugged, holding her gaze. "Maybe you'll get me to reveal that in the sack," he murmured, only half-joking.

Nancy propped her chin on her hand. "Maybe," she said noncommittally. "Although it's hard to imagine much less sexy."

"Than us in the sack?"

"Than us in a post-coital work discussion. I gave up mixing business with pleasure a long time ago." She shook her head, clucking her tongue briefly. "Which is a damn shame. Speaking of working out desk calendars..."

Ned just propped his chin on his hand too and gazed directly back at her, not falling for the diversion. "So you're working for Madison?" he asked quietly.

She paused. "Yes," she said, and though it sounded like an admission, he knew it was at least a partial lie, likely because Madison didn't have the resources or political strength to get someone like Marcy behind her and embedded in the company this way. "Your turn."

Ned's lips curved up slightly. "Nice try."

Her smile became a grin. "Sweetheart, I haven't yet _begun_."

\--

Nancy was practically buzzing with nervous energy, a ridiculous spring in her step as she walked down the hallway. The extended-stay motel actually wasn't terrible, shockingly. She had half been expecting to see a law enforcement team in the parking lot, making plans to bust up a drug dealing ring, or something similar.

Ned took his sweet time answering her knock, and a small, traitorous part of her hoped that he'd come back to his room and gotten roaring drunk after their date. That would at least make this easier, even if it wasn't, strictly speaking, all that ethical.

"Marcy," he said in greeting, looking less than surprised. His hair was rumpled, and he was barechested.

She raised an eyebrow. "Ned," she replied. "May I come in?"

He sighed, scrubbed his palm against his cheek, then stepped back in wordless invitation. Nancy couldn't help taking a look around as she stepped inside. It looked like a standard hotel room inside, but at least it was relatively tidy. His bed looked like he'd been the only one sleeping in it.

Not that that mattered. Not at all.

"All right. So you're not government."

Ned's eyebrows went up for a second. "No," he replied slowly. "I'm not."

"But I'm friends with people who are," she replied. "Look, we can do this the easy way, or the hard one. For all I know, we're on the same side. You have access that... well, I wouldn't kill to have it, but I might consider it."

Ned smiled and sat down on the couch in the small sitting area, and gestured for her to take a seat too. He still looked groggy, but marginally more awake. "I... do contract work," he admitted. "And yes, we're on the same side. Do you know what a rough shadow is?"

She gave him an impatient nod. She had compromised, leaning against his kitchen island instead of taking the seat. Somehow, being too close to him while he was so nearly undressed felt too intimate.

Ned chuckled. "Of course you do. Well, you're filling that role for me."

"In exchange for what?"

Ned opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "Your goal is to prove Madison innocent. I'll help you with that goal."

"Mmm." She glanced around the bare room. Her gaze kept gravitating to the unmade bed, which was less than ideal. "If we work together..."

"We would be," he pointed out.

"Are you investigating Parsons?"

His lips quirked up a little. He'd as much as admitted it with the question about a rough shadow.

"So what's my place in this, then? I suppose if I'm the rough shadow, you'll be 'keeping an eye on me.'"

Ned shrugged, but the suggestion of a smile still lingered on his lips, and his gaze was locked to her. "Perfect cover. In fact, it's even better if I 'suspect' you're trying to find evidence against him..."

"Especially if he trusts you enough to ask you for help covering it up."

"Bingo."

Nancy released a genuine, staccato burst of laughter. "Seriously? Is that tired slang to go with your 1930s nickname?"

Ned's brows drew together in an expression of pained confusion. "It _is_ my name. 'Marcy.'" His eyes narrowed.

"I know. It had to be close enough to my own name... I've been burned that way before."

"Uh-huh. Like Nancy is all that modern."

Nancy kept gazing at Ned as he stood. "You know who I am?"

He nodded and took a step toward her. Nancy fought the instinct to take an answering step back. "Your reputation's too good to be true. At least, I thought it was. But I haven't seen you in action yet, so..." He shrugged again. She saw a teasing gleam in his eye.

"Well, now that I know you're in contract work, give me twenty-four hours." She was partially bluffing, but she was fairly confident she could actually pull it off. "What'll you give me for finding out who signs your paychecks?"

He let his scorching-hot gaze slowly travel down and back up her body, and by the time his eyes met hers, she could feel a blush slowly flaring up her chest and neck. "What would you like?" he replied, his voice rough and low, sending a wave of unwelcome desire through her.

"Clock's ticking," she settled on as her reply, turning to leave, still feeling his gaze on her. She chanced one glance back, and seeing him there, half-naked, near his unmade bed, left her with one traitorous thought.

It wouldn't be the last time she'd be seeing him that way.

\--

Ned lasted two days before the words _we'd better pretend to be dating_ crossed his lips. And the speed with which Nancy agreed would have been disturbing, under any other circumstances. She was desperate for more information about the case, and quick, too. She realized and accepted that, while Ned's investigation might inadvertently clear Madison's name, it also wasn't going to be public, and would only take the heat off her within the company.

That was all she wanted, though, so it was fine.

Their first kiss was the next day in the cramped "kitchen" at work, with her in heels and leaning against the countertop and the two of them all of three inches apart. They spoke in rapid code, neither daring to say what was actually going on with their now-shared case, and to anyone else they would just sound like they were giddy, drunk on the high of a new relationship. And then he kissed her mid-word and felt that last aborted syllable like a sigh against his lips, and then his fingertips were brushing the soft fabric of her shirt, feeling the warmth of her skin against his palm. He stretched his fingers apart before he could gather a handful of her shirt and tug her against him.

He felt guilty for _not_ feeling guilty about it. They were both adults. It was a cover, and it wasn't.

And whenever she was in the same room, all his attention was on her, without any conscious decision on his part. He found her laughter intoxicating, her intellect dazzling, her sense of humor so near his own. It was as though those were the few moments of sunshine he was granted every day, and he just wanted to soak it in. To bask in her and the way he felt in her presence.

What shook him out of it, even temporarily, was when he caught himself considering dragging his feet on the case. It would mean spending more time with her, and once she had accepted the "dating" cover story, and they were seeing each other after work...

That definitely wasn't okay. Nothing about it was okay. But he also didn't know if requesting a few days off after the conclusion of the case was overstepping the boundaries neither of them had spoken. What they had, other than a searing-hot attraction to each other and a shared mental wavelength of an intensity he had rarely experienced, was not much, actually.

But it was everything, when he was near her.

And then, three nights into the dating cover, she was in his hotel room and he had gathered her to him, their lips meeting over and over in desperate, hungry, almost brutal kisses. His need for her only grew with every moment they spent together, and she seemed to feel the same. One of her heels slid off and thudded against the carpet, her knee bent and her leg came up, and she whimpered a breathy moan that had him hard in a second, cupping her ass and holding her hips to his.

As soon as the orders were signed, he'd have a very special, very private talk with Parsons, and then Parsons would be in cuffs, either on his way to testify about who hired him or on his way to jail to think about it.

And this...

Ned's hand snaked under Nancy's skirt and he slid his thumb under the elastic band of her panties, tugging them down slightly.

She gasped, and the sound was so vulnerable that it both turned him on even more and made him break their kiss to gaze into her face. If she didn't want this, he'd stop _right now_.

And while there was a wariness in her expression, in the way her eyebrows had drawn together, in the parting of her lips, she blinked and wiped it away.

"Yes," she whispered.

\--

_Well,_ Nancy thought as she gazed up at the textured ceiling above Ned's bed, her panties dangling from one ankle. She was trying to hold onto that small kernel of fear, the _shit no it's too fast it's too much we can't_ , because it was being _rapidly_ drowned out by her body's response to his own.

It was like—

There was _nothing_ it was like, not remotely, nothing in her own experience. She'd never gone to bed with a man this quickly after meeting him. She'd never done anything so incredibly reckless, relationship-wise, in her entire life. Her need for him was roaring, devouring, and she was desperate for every single possible second. Everything, God, _everything._

She felt his fingers and then oh, oh Jesus, his _tongue_. The rough texture of it against her arousal-sensitized clit made her arch up off the bed with a liquid hiss of delighted profanity. He chuckled against her before he glanced his teeth against the firm button.

She sucked in a shocked, delighted breath, her legs spread wide, her fingers clenching as she fought the urge to comb them through his hair and hold his head _just there._

How... God, oh God, how.

The case was almost over. He wouldn't jeopardize things if they weren't close to being finished anyway. Within a day, two at the outside...

He slid a finger inside her, groaning against her as he kept eating her out, and her eyes rolled back as she arched again.

All the more reason to not let herself second-guess this. So it was outside her usual experience. She had a feeling _everything_ about tonight was going to be outside her usual experience.

Letting her anxiety go and just feeling what he was doing to her took almost no effort, especially once she impatiently shoved her bra up and scratched her nails over her hard nipples, through the thin, soft fabric of her dress. The stimulation had her pulsing against his finger, and she didn't warn him she was approaching her climax; for all she knew, this would be all he wanted tonight. Her breathless cries became low, desperate groans, and she begged him not to stop. His only answer was another chuckle, another slow glide out and back in, another wicked swipe of his tongue against her clit.

She came, shuddering, sobbing out a broken "Yes, _yes_ ," and he kept stroking her through it, kept suckling until she whimpered. He pushed himself to his feet and she heard the quiet snick of his zipper as she gasped her breath back.

He was almost a stranger.

But he wasn't, not really. Not after dates when they had gazed at each other, both feeling it, both knowing it, neither speaking it. Being with him was like picking up a conversation with her best friend. Even after so brief a time, they were fluent in each other in so many complicated ways, and the heat between them was undeniable.

But this... this was her body, and soon he would be gone.

She was loose, limber, entirely spent, and had only just summoned the strength to draw her legs back together when she saw him reach for a box on the table beside the bed and pull out a condom. Their eyes met, and she forced her own to open completely.

"Now, later, or not tonight?"

She could see the traces of her arousal gleaming on his lips, and it crashed over her with all the force she had used to hold it back: _oh God, what did I do, what have we done._ She pushed herself up as he stood waiting for her answer, his shirt half-unbuttoned thanks to her roaming hands, his hair rumpled from her fingers combing through it.

She unfastened her bra and pulled it and her dress off, smiling sheepishly as she smoothed her hair back down after. Then she reached for him as she sat on the edge of his bed, parting her own legs wide so he could stand between. His fly was already open; she cupped his hips and pushed his pants and underwear down, freeing his erection.

Oh, holy shit. Tonight was _definitely_ going to be outside her previous experience.

He groaned at the first stroke of her tongue against the head of his cock, and in her peripheral vision she saw the condom drop to the floor. She couldn't fit all of him into her mouth at once, and she wasn't sure what would happen if she tried to take him down her throat—holy God, he was _so big._ She sucked and stroked, rubbing the heel of her hand against the base of his cock, gently fondling his balls, and she felt his fingers comb through her hair before he just rested his hand there, not pressing, just... expressing his enjoyment.

"Baby—"

He was more than primed, and it didn't take long before his hips were gently thrusting and he was panting, trying to hold himself back. She kept bobbing her head, taking him deeper as he thrusted. He gasped out another warning but she didn't release him, and she closed her eyes as she swallowed his cum.

_It is my body, and I wanted this._

She felt powerful, seductive, _wanted_ as she released him, opened her eyes and leaned back, propping herself up on her elbows. Ned was still wearing most of his clothes, a flush high in his cheeks, and God, that low-lidded look was all she needed to make her wet again. For her, giving a blow job had never felt demeaning—and any time she'd felt even a hint of that, she'd stopped. She tossed her hair back and felt her panties finally slide off her ankle.

"Holy shit," Ned muttered. His thumb skipped down his shirt, his gaze locked to her as he finished unbuttoning it, and then his pants were on the floor and he was climbing over her, his knees, God, his hips between hers, his lips against her neck, _fuck oh fuck_ , his skin, warmth and weight and the whisper of his breath over her.

_This is all we will have, all we can have, now._

He rolled over so she was straddling him, and that sadness was washed away by sheer crashing joy. She felt like a teenager again, in love for the first time, unaware of all that could pierce her through and leave her staggering. Because it had never been this high, this pure, with any of them.

And going back to her normal life had never felt so low before.

She pressed herself to him with a sigh, her tongue tracing over his earlobe as he caressed her back, as she felt the thick length of him snug against the tender slick lips of her sex. She was fire, but oh God, he was the sun.

\--

"I'm shocked you're still here."

Nancy wasn't surprised to see him on her doorstep, but she was surprised he had stuck around after Parsons' arrest. Ned's eyebrows flicked up, but he stepped inside once she stepped back.

Ah. She was packing, too. His own bags were in the rental car downstairs, and his flight was in the morning. He just hadn't wanted to go without saying goodbye.

But he didn't want to say goodbye, either. He wanted this to always be possible in the back of his mind, that blank hotel room with the ice machine interrupting his sleep every night, her stilettos on the carpet, the imprint of her lipstick against the line of his jaw.

Ned didn't dwell in possibilities, though, and he knew this wouldn't be, anyway. She wouldn't be here in this hotel room, waiting for him, for the rest of his life. Her career took her all over the globe, just as his did.

"When's your flight?"

Her lips quirked up for a second. "In the morning," she said, and sat down at the foot of her unmade bed. Ned took the desk chair.

"How'd it go?"

He tipped the chair back a little, rocking slightly. "It'll take them a few days to get everything, but he'll give," Ned said, with a faint shrug. "Might turn him, but I just don't know. I'm just grateful I don't have to be around him anymore."

"Definitely."

Ned brightened. "Want to grab a drink?"

She glanced at the open suitcase, then down at her clearly casual outfit, a loose t-shirt and a pair of soft gray cotton pants. "Not unless the minibar counts as a drink," she replied, then winked at him.

"I don't know." Their gazes met and locked, and Ned's mouth went dry. The ease he had felt was deserting him. If this was the last conversation he ever had with her...

_You were the best fuck I ever had_ didn't cut it. Not by a long shot. And it wasn't even the full truth, either.

"Something more celebratory, then?"

He nodded. They gazed at each other. She looked... beautiful. Just so incredibly beautiful. And he would never have described her that way until he had known her.

She licked her lips. The tension wasn't just one-sided, then. Ned's chest was tight with it. They had so little time left together, and he didn't want to sour any of it.

"For a beginning, or for an end?" she said softly.

His heart sank.

A long moment passed before Nancy glanced down, and God, that tightness in him was almost unbearable.

"Did you take the job Network offered you? Madrid?"

And then, like that, it vanished as his eyes widened. "Wha— How—"

"Let's just say me and Network go way back. Kind of. And while I generally don't slum it with them... I called in a favor." She smiled and stood. "I mean, if you're okay with that."

He nodded before he could truly consider it, standing too. She'd be in danger, but so would he; she'd be in danger no matter where she was, and he knew that about her. And, God help him, he wouldn't change it.

"So." She stripped her shirt off and stood before him, breasts bare, with the night spread out before them. 

He hadn't known how to say goodbye, anyway.

"Here's to new beginnings."

**Author's Note:**

> This work was originally published elsewhere. If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving feedback!


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